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CARP CULIURISrS GUIDE, 




VALENTINE STILABOWER, 

PROPRIETOR 

BAVARIAN FISHERIES, . 

EDINBURG, : : : INDIANA. 



EDINBURG, IND.: 

E. M. HARDY, PRINTER. 
1886. 



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-OF THE- 



-4 CAR? 



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AN D- 



CARP CULIURISrS GUIDE, 



-BY 



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V • J 

V VALENTINE STILABOWER, 



PROP'R bavarian FISHERIKS, 



EDINBURG, 






EDINBURG, IND.: 

E. M. HARDY, PRINTER. 
1886. 



3Hi(o^ 



l.ntered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, b)- 
VALENTINE STILABOWER, 

(n tlie Office of Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GERMAN CARP. 

The German Cafp, (Cyprinus Carpio), which has been 
so recently introduced into the United States by the 
United States Fish Commission, at Washington, is not 
a German fish, as is generally believed, but is a native 
of Central China and Japan, and was introduced into 
Germany prior to the twelfth century. 

It is supposed to have been introduced and cultivated 
by some Augustin Monks, in Austria, ami as the various 
Monks in their Monasterys were ever assidious, in nearly 
all new industries and privileges granted them by their 
superiors, we owe much to them, as during the dark ages 
they were ever ready to use their limited learning and 
knowledge that they would gain by practical experience 
in new industries, and impart them to the communities 
around them. And among these industries was Carp 
culture. In some parts of Europe Carp culture seems to 
be the leading industry, as much so as the growing of 
grain or live stock on the farm, in other parts. 

When we consider the vast interest that is taken in 
Europe in Carp culture, we are astonished. Take Austria, 
Bohemia, Saxony, Northern, Central and Southern 
Germany, France, Italy, England, and even Norway and 
Sweeden, where hundreds and thousands of acres ot 
artificial ponds are devoted to Carp culture, and millions 
of dollars are represented in this industry, and has been 
carried on for centuries, then the American Carp culturist 
has every encouragement to engage in this new enterprise. 



HISTORY OF IHE CARP, AND 



DISCRIPTION AND SPECIES OF CARP. 



'The Carp has a toothless mouth, thick lips, and tour 
barbels on the upper jaw. In place of teeth in the 
mouth it has a number of stout teeth on the pharyngeal 
l)(»ne. which are arranged in three rows, and loosing 
them annually at the spawning season, these teeth grow 
anew every year. It has one single dorsal fin, which is 
longer than the anal. Both of these fins have at their 
origin, on tlie interior edge, a strong ray which is 
.serated in a downward direction. The caudel is of 
>emi-circular shaj^e. The scales have an entire edge, 
and the body is compressed on the sides. The color of 
the back and sides is a dark brown, the abdomen a 
\ ellow or orange tint. However, the color de})ends, as 
with all fish, upon the age and season, and partly upon 
the water, soil, and upon the food of the fish. 

There are three distinguished species or varieties of 
the Carp, viz: 

The Scale C'arp, (Schilb Karben) with regular, con- 
centrically arranged scales, supjjosed by Rudol])h Hessel 
to be the original species improved. 

The Mirror Carp, (Speigel Karben) named so on 
account of its large scales which run along the sides of 
the body in three or tour rows, the rest of the bodr 
being bare. 

The Leather Carp, ( Leder Karben ) which has on the 



CARl' CULTUKISr S GUIDE. 



back only a few scales or none at all, with soft skin, and 
velvety to the touch. 

The two last named are somewhat shorter and stouter 
and more of a fleshy body than the first. By the best 
authorit) I can get, with my own observation, we cannot 
decide which of these three varieties is the best for the 
culturist, either for eating or market purposes; indeed, 
if we have in our ponds either of the genuine species. 
the\ will be found uood enouijh. 




HIS'lORV (-F IHF C\\i\\ ASD 



CARP CULTURE IN EUROPE. 



As We find in Austria, Bohemia and various other 
German States, Carp culture has been carried on for 
centuries, it is well for us to look to them for instructions, 
and their mode of cultivation. I shall quote Mr. 
Rudolph Hessel's experience, as well as my own 
])ractical and experienced knowledge, and also what 1 
have gained by conversing with practical European 
Carp culturists. 

In Europe we trace Carp culture in ponds prior to 
the twelfth century; and in 1227, the Emperor Charles 
IV, of Germany, favored the establishment of Carp 
])onds, and many of his peojile took up favorable 
localities along the various VN-ater courses, such as the 
Danube, Wesser, Rhine, and many other streams, 
wherever favorable localities could be found to build 
ponds, and so successful was this culture of fish in 
ponds carried on, that it soon spread throughout Austria, 
Bohemia, Saxony, Upper and Lower Bavaria, Silisia, 
Hessia, Hanover, Oldenburg, Mecklenburg and Holstein. 
the artificial ponds covering from a few to thousands 
of acres in water area. 

There are various celebrated Carp ponds in different 
parts of Europe. In Austria there are celebrated Carp 
fisheries, which can be traced back to the twelfth century. 



CARP CULTURIST's GUIDE. 



and brought into existence by the Lords of Rosenberg. 
These establishments are so grand and extensive that 
they are the wonder and admiration of all visitors. 
These fisheries came into possession in 1670 to the 
Princes of Swarzenberg, their present owners. The extent 
to which Carp culture has been carried on in these 
princely domains will be seen from the circumstances 
that their artificial ponds comprise an area of no less 
than 20,000 acres. The proceeds amount to about 
10,000,000 pounds of Carp per annum. These ponds 
are probably the most extensive on the globe, but there 
are many large artificial ponds met with wherever 
natural facilities abound. These ponds are usually 
situated in some undulating lowland, where small valleys 
have been closed in by gigantic dams, for the purpose 
of forming reservoirs. We meet with these ponds in 
every well-to-do community. 

Take part of Austria, Hanover, Oldenberg, Mecklen- 
burg and Holstein, for instance, and we find almost 
every commumity or large farm possessing one or more 
ponds, containing from a few to several hundred acres. 
These ponds are all so arranged that they can be drained 
to the last droj) of water, when the Carp are taken out, 
and the bottom of the ponds are cultivated in some kind 
of grain for two or three years. Some culturists sow 
turnips, or some other root crop, and let them mature, 
before thet re-stock the pond with water and Carp: 
these roots are fine food for the fish, which they will 
eat with avidity, and grow rapidly. This cultivation 
of the soil in the ponds is deemed very beneficial both 
for the health of the fish and also for grain. Some 



HISTORN' OF THE CARP, AND 



cultiirists draw only a part of the water off and sow 
the margin of the pond in wheat, barley or rye, and 
let this water on and cover the young growth for the 
benefit of the ('arp. In (rermany, then we find agri - 
( iilture and Carp culture go hand in hand. 




CARP CULTURIST'S GUIDE. 



NATURE AND HABIT OF THE CARP. 



The Carp is partial to stagnant water, or such as have 
not too swift a current, with a muddy or loamy bottom, 
well covered with vegetation; it is therefore an advantage 
to the culturist, as the Carp can live in water where no 
other fish can well exist. Take for instance natural 
ponds, or sloughs, bogs or any stagnant waters, wherein 
they seem to be at home; though it is not to be inferred 
that the above mentioned places are the best for their 
culture. They thrive and do well in any kind of water, 
(except mineral) even salt water or sea water not 
excepted. However, if the water in the pond contains 
too much humic acid or receives the drainage from 
barn and stable lots, or through oak woods, or fed on 
impure food, the flesh of the fish will be found to taste 
mouldy, and just in proportion to the foulness of the 
water or the food it has received. 

Therefore it is important that the culturist provide 
his ponds with pure water and good pure food. As the 
Carp is a vegetable feeder the culturist can always have 
an abundance of food at hand through the season that 
they need to be fed. They will eat all kinds of our 
cereals, as well as vegetables, after being cooked or 
crushed to a fine mass, for be it remembered that they 
have no teeth for masticating hard or solid food: it also 
feeds largely upon aquatic plants, larvae, worms, and 



lO HISTORY OF THK CARP, AND 

insects which it turns up from the mud with its head, 
and will not refuse the offal of our kitchen, barns, mills, 
breweries, or even the excrement of cattle, sheep or 
swine. So we see that they are easily satisfied. 

The Carjj takes no food, or but very little during 
winter or cold weather. As soon as winter approaches 
they seek deep water and there form themselves in 
circles of one hundred or more, with their mouths in 
the mud, and in a dormant state, or a kind of sleep, 
until warm weather again begins, in the spring, when 
they come out again and seek for food. 

It is therefore well and essential that all Carp ponds 
should have some deep water about, from six to ten 
feet, for the fish to hybernate during the winter. In 
this latitude i Central Indiana) the Carp usually seeks 
its winter retreat as soon as cold weather sets in, about 
December ist. I think, however, that in the South, 
where there is scarcely any winter or cold weather, that 
tliey would not hybernate, but would continue to eat 
and grow the whole year; and then if we go farther 
North where the cold sets in earlier, the fish would go 
into their winter cpiarters much earlier, and consequently 
would not grow as much as in a more congenial climate. 

The Carp will sometimes cross with other species of 
fish, such as the goldfish and sunfish of our streams, or 
some other species that spawn at the same time in their 
season. The culturist then should have none of our 
native fish in his ]H)nds, not only to prevent the crossing 
of the fish, but also to prevent the native fish from 
eating the eggs and young Carp. The Carp does not 
eat its own eggs or young unless starved to it, which 



CARP CULTURIST'S GUIDE. 



the ciilturist should never permit. It is not a game 
fish, therefore will not eat or prey on other fish; neither 
will it eat any kind of meat when it has plenty of 
vegetable food, but will not refuse it when driven by 
hunger. Some culturists say that they will not bite at 
or take a fish hook, but it can be taken very readily by 
a small hook when baited with dough. I have taken 
numbers of them from from my ponds by taking a small 
fish-hook and filing off the barbs and bait with dough, 
mixed in the following manner: Take flour and water 
and mix, and add enough of common cotton to make it 
more adhesive, then form this dough into pills, the size 
of a common grain of corn. Carp taken in this manner 
can again be placed in ponds, and the operation does 
not seem to hurt them. 




12 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 



THE CULTURE OE CARP AND GROWTH, 



The culture of Carp has been so recently introduced 
into the United States that we have received but little 
practical knowledge by experienced culturists. What I 
shall say in regard to the culture and growth of the 
Car]) will be my own practice and experience. I hope 
the culturist will find what I say to be correct. 

The Carp if well cared for, and has had an abundance 
of food, will usually commence spawning at two years 
of age; it should then weigh from two to three pounds. 
It must be remembered that the Carp only grows in 
warm weather, so it will be seen that it gains this weight 
in from eight to ten months growth; they can even be 
made to weigh more by proper care and extra feeding. 

The female Carp weighing three pounds or more is 
estimated by Mr. R. Hessel, to contain from 300,000 
to 500,000 eggs, and some writers make this estimate 
still greater. The abundance of eggs easily explains 
for the extraordinary increase of the Carp, when it is 
well cared for. About March, in this latitude, (Central 
Indiana) the female will be found ripe, and if the weather 
becomes warm the fish will come from their winter 
retreat, and if the weather and water continues to keej) 
warm, they will commence spawning in the months of 
.April and May. However the time of spawning will 
differ as we go North; the farther North the later in the 



CARP CULTURIST'S GUIDE. ,13 

season, and Southward it would be earlier. 

Spawning of the individual fish does not take place all 
at once, but at intervals; days and weeks will pass before 
the last egg is left to the care of nature. Sometimes 
when it turns cold, or cold rains set in during the spawn- 
ing season, it will be interrupted, but commenced again 
as soon as warm weather sets in. 

During the spawning season a perceptible change 
takes place in the Carp; both become more lively. 
Large protuberances like warts, appearing on the head 
of the male and again disappearing, when the spawning 
season is over. The female will rise from the depth and 
approach into the shallow water, and followed by the 
males. They will dart swiftly from place to place; this 
is called running spawning. The females prefer spots 
that are overgrown with aquatic plants and grasses, 
such as nymphaea, alisma, and other plants. The males 
follow close by the side of the females, lashing the water 
in a lively way, twitching their body, and darting 
through the water with short, tremulous movements of 
the fins; they do so in groups of two or three males to 
one female. This is the moment when the female drops 
the eggs, which are immediately impregnated by the 
milter; the amount of eggs will hatch just in proportion 
as they are impregnated by the milter, probably not 
more than one in five. My observation is about that 
amount. As the process of spawning is repeated several 
times, the female drops only from 400 to 500 eggs at a 
time. So it will require days and weeks before it has 
given up the last egg. 

The eggs of the Carp are adhesive, and adhere in lumps 



14 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 

of from six to twelve or more to the objects on which 
they have fallen. As soon as the egg has left the body 
of the fish it swells up a little, and the mucus that 
surrounds it, serves to fasten it on whatever object it 
touches, be it aquatic plant, brush or stone. Every egg 
not so attached it lost. 

Therefore all ponds should be provided with various 
plants, brush or anything else for the eggs to adhere to. 
However I will further on in this work speak of the 
various plants best suited for ponds. The eggs will 
develop quickly if assisted by warm weather; about the 
fifth or sixth day the first traces of dusky spots, the eyes, 
will be visible, and about the tenth or twelfth day the 
little fish will break through its covering. This rapid 
development takes place only when the water is shallow 
and thoroughly warmed up by the sun or in hatching 
ponds expressly constructed for that purpose. In deep 
water where it would be colder, or if the water is cold 
by change in the weather, then it would require eighteen 
or twenty, or more days, before the hatching would be 
complete. 

In a few days the young fish will have absorbed the 
yolk, we find attached to it when it first leaves its 
envelope, and begins then to seek its food. Now if the 
pond is productive in abundance of natural food for so 
many young fish they develop and grow very rapidly. 
If the pond is over-stocked with young fish, they should 
be fed. I usually feed middlings and shorts I get from 
the mills, which I find excellent food for the fry; they 
are also very fond of any kind of bread, crackers, or 
any kind of scraps from our table, but I do not approve 



CARP CULTURIST's GUIDE. 15 



of feeding them any kind of food containing salt or 
any kind of mineral, as this affects the health of the fish. 
It requires very fine ground food for the young fish, as 
the throat of the Carp is very small in proportion to its 
size. The young Carp that will hatch out in May and 
find food in abundance, and if the summer and autumn 
are favorable to its growth, will be found six inches or 
more in length, and in good condition to be placed in 
the breeding ponds. The Carp does not grow in winter, 
and therefore will gain nothing until the following 
summer, and by autumn will have gained the weight of 
two to three pounds, and measure from twelve to eighteen 
inches in length. After the second summer it will grow 
very rapidly and it will sometimes gain the weight of 
six to eight pounds by the fall of the third year. I have 
a few Mirror Carp, six years old, weighing over twenty 
pounds each. They will keep on growing until they 
have gained the weight of fifty to one hundred pounds 
and measuring three to four feet in length. After they 
arrive to be twenty-five or thirty years old, they will, 
however, gain in weight by laying on more fat for some 
time after this age. The oldest Carp I have any ac- 
count of was one hundred and forty years old and still 
living at that time in some Austrian pond. 

Let me remark that there are many fish sold for Carp 
that are crossed with some of our native fish, and so 
perfect is the cross that it is hard for the student or 
culturist to distinguish them from the genuine Carp. 
Therefore we sometimes hear the Carp denounced by 
some who are ignorant of these facts, about Carp being 
bony and unfit to eat. Many individuals have been 



1 6 HISTORY OF THE CARP. AND 

engaged in cultivating our native fish before the German 
Carp was introduced into this country by the Fish 
Commission, at Washington, and when the Carp was 
distributed to the applicants, many of them (having 
ponds already stocked with native fish, and among 
them the common sunfish of our streams, and ignorant 
of the Carp crossing"), would place them into their 
ponds and form hybrids, and of which it would be hard 
to distinguish from the genuine Carp. 

The culturist should be very careful in stocking his 
ponds. If the pcnd dees not produce sufficient natural 
food, then artificial feeding must be resorted to, or if the 
culturist allows too many fish in his pond, more than 
would supply his fish with ozygen from the water, they 
will either die or do no good. Therefore the culturist 
must have the means at hand to supply his pond with 
fresh water frequently or take out the surplus fish. The 
culturist had better give away or let out some of his fish 
in some open water, as to have too many fish in his pond. 

The number of Carp placed in a pond of one acre of 
water area, would be hard to advise, as the culturist 
must consider the kind of bottom he has in his pond, 
whether it is a loamy, muddy bottom, or a sandy, gravely 
or rocky bottom. If the pond contains a muddy, loamy 
bottom, and the water not too deep, it will produce 
more aquatic plants, worms., larvae, insects, and more 
abundant natural food in general, than when the bottom 
is sandy or rocky, and consequently would be poor. 
Therefore the pond first described would sustain many 
more fish than the last. My first large pond I built 
contains four and a half acres, and is very productive in 



CARP CULTURIST S GUIDE. 1 "J 



natural food. I placed in the fall of 1884 Carp three 
months old, averaging three inches in length, at the rate 
of two thousand per acre. I took no more notice of 
them until the following May when I placed food along 
the margin of the pond; the fish did not disturb this 
food until June, when they first began to eat the food I 
placed in the pond. They came regularly to feed 
thereafter when hungry. I kept feeding until autumn 
1885. I bought all the food I fed, consisting of stale 
bread, at the bakeries, and shorts and bran from the 
mills, costing in all ten dollars and fifty cents for the 
season. In October 1885, I weighed some of them and 
found them weighing one and a half to two pounds each. 
I call this a good growth for the one summer. This will 
give the beginner some idea what Carp culture will do» 
Say nine thousand Carp gaining one and a half pounds 
each would make thirteen thousand five hundred 
pounds of Carp to four and a half acres of water, and at 
eight cents per pound, would amount to Sr,o8o. Now 
by leaving these fish in the pond the following year they 
will require to be fed more abundantly as they grow 
larger, and if fed all they will eat, they will weigh from 
four to six pounds the following autumn. If the pond 
is poor, with sandy and rocky bottom, and furnishes but 
little natural food, probably only one-half the number 
of Carp I have mentioned would be enough in order to 
do well. I find that the greatest difficulty with beginners 
in Carp culture is that they keep too many fish in their 
pond to make the business a success. Some culturists 
recommend more Carp per acre, for this country, 
while some European culturists recommend less. The 
culturist will, however, find the rules I have adopted a 
good one to pursue. 



1 8 HISTORY OF THK CARP, AND 



BUILDING PONDS, 



In building ponds we should consider first the locality 
in which we wish to construct our ponds; second, 
is there sufficient water at hand for all purposes, for 
summer and winter; third, is the ground, water and soil 
favorable for Carp culture. The beginner should be 
careful, as it is very important to examine the land 
closely in order to find what are the components of the 
soil, for every kind of soil is not suitable for Carj) 
culture. Neither should the water from mineral springs 
be used, as it is not good for Carp culture. The culturist 
should also consider the extent he wishes to engage in; 
whether he wishes to cultivate only for his family use 
and his own pleasure, or enter more extensively for 
cultivating fish for wholesale purposes, and supplying 
the general trade. If the locality is selected where he 
wishes to build his i)ond, the ground must be examined 
to see that the water collected does not penetrate or 
absorb through dam or bottom. We must be sure 
that the soil is impermeable and to withstand the 
pressure of the water and not permit it from oozing 
through, and to prevent the pond in consequence from 
drying up. Sandy, gravely or rocky ground is not very 
good for a Carp pond, without a considerable mixture 
of clay, loam and humus. I speak here of large and 
extensive ponds. Small ponds can be improved by 



CARP CULTURISt's GUIDE. 



supplying them with the loam, clay and humus. A 
loam mixed with a small per cent, of sand and a large 
per cent, of clay, is suitable for Carp ponds. If that 
kind of ground contains marl and humus to a small 
amount, it will be found of an advantage to the Carp 
pond. 

When this humus I speak of is dissolved in water it 
gives it a yellow, muddy color, and the ingredients of 
this kind of water supports large numbers of microscopic 
beings which forms the support of larger creatures, 
and helps to increase the food in the pond, and of 
which the Carp depends largely for its food. 

However, too much humus or peat or water standing 
or running through bogs is injurious, and water running 
through oak woods contains too much tannin and is 
therefore not good. Water from mineral springs should 
be avoided, as all these will give the fish a mouldy and 
bad flavor, when it comes to be cooked and eaten. 

Water flowing through fertile fields and meadows 
should be collected and led into Carp ponds, as these 
waters carry large quantities of food in the ponds. The 
rainfalls from such fields will carry large quantities of 
vegetable matter, as well as worms and insects, all of 
which is good food for the Carp. Such located ponds 
are more valuable, and if the pond is fed by springs 
direct from the ground the water should be led to flow 
from fifty to one hundred yards in a shallow ditch, that 
it may be warmed up as well as receive nourishing 
compounds from the earth and air. If a tract of land 
is found with not too much fall so as to require too 
high embankment, such sites should be preferred. A 



20 HISTORY or I HE CARP, AND 



low undulating country, with slight elevated hills, where 
tlie valley are easy closed up with dams for the i)urpose 
of forming reservoirs, could be easily converted into 
])onds; these dams can be built with but little expense. 

I will now describe to the reader my own ponds, how 
they are located and built, so that you may draw some 
idea when you wish to build a pond. 

As I sit at my writing table and before my window 
in my room and glance out occasionally, I take in view 
m\- entire fisheries. My house is built on a ^mall 
elevation, about the center of a valley. This valley 
runs northeast one hundred and sixty rods from the 
house and one hundred and eighty rods southeast, and 
is from thirt)- to sixty rods in width. The springs that 
sui)])ly my ponds are located in the center of this valley, 
and the water from them runs or divides both ways. 
The valley from this elevated center has a fall of ten 
feet to every forty rod of descent, and the soil is all 
that could be desired for Carp culture. This valley 
has elevated hills on each side from twenty to fifty feet 
high, and are well set in blue-grass ])asture. I permit 
all the rainfall from these hills to flow through my ponds. 



CARP CULTURIST S GUIDE. 21 



BUILDING MY FIRST FISH POND, 



My first fish pond is located at the northeast end of 
the valley just described. In the first place I drove 
tlown two stakes parallel with the valley and by placinii 
on them a carpenter's level to find when the tops of m\ 
stakes where level and by sighting across these stakes 
I could find the exact elevation of the ground, and 
found that the elevation was ten feet for every forty 
rods distance up the valley. I had to know this in 
order to give my dam the proper width in the bottom 
in order to reach the proper height when done. I 
found too that I had to commence with a base of fifty 
feet in width, to give my dam the proper width on top 
when done. I now commenced plowing on the inside 
of my dam and worked the earth outward on the base 
of the dam. This plowing and scooping I carried on 
until I had a space of two feet deep, sixty feet wide, and 
the length of my dam. This was all the earth I desired 
to take from the pond; the rest I took from the 
elevations on the sides of the valley. The excavation I 
made in the pond and near the dam is called the 
collector, where the fish collects when the water is 
drawn from the pond. Let me here remark that before 
I moved any earth on the dam, I took 2x16 inch oak 
plank and sixteen feet long and spiked four of them 
together to form the bottom sluice-way, when I wis> ed 



22 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 

to draw the water from the pond. It took three of 
these sixteen foot troughs placed end to end to reach 
across the bottom of the dam. At the inside of this 
shiice or outlet I cut one and a half inch groves on 
each side and bottom plank to fit a slide or head gate 
in, to be raised when I wish to drain my pond. 
Some culturists recommends a tight plank frame-work 
around this sluice-way to prevent the water from 
washing the earth away and thereby saving the dam. 
I think it unnecessary in so wide a dam, but I think 
it would be beneficial in a narrow dam of only ten to 
twenty feet wide. After the dam was as high as I 
wanted the water in the pond, I was at a loss how to 
arrange the outlet for the overflow^ as I had a great 
amount of rainfall to contend with, from at least two 
hundred acres of land. I at first thought I would cut 
ditches on both sides of the valley and let the surplus 
water off. But that would carry off a great amount 
of food from my fish, that w^ould wash in from the 
blue-grass pasture surrounding my pond. I took 
another plan and a better one. I built the outlet from 
the overflow^ on the east end of the dam on solid ground, 
fourteen feet wide and three feet high, and put a fine 
wire screen over it to prevent the fish from going 
through, and in front of the screen I put a frame work 
of 1X2 slats to prevent trash from stopping up 
the screen; I also made my dam as high as this frame 
work, wdiich makes the top of the dam higher by three 
feet than the water in the pond, besides this outlet I 
have left the ground on the end from twelve to fifteen 
inches lower than the dam, so if the outlet should be 



CARP CULTURIST S GUIDE. 



insufficient to carry off surplus water fast enough it will 
raise and flow over and around the east end of the 
outlet, where the ground has been left lower. I used wood 
work for all of my outlets, but I would recommend for 
a good, permanent dam, solid masonry for the upper 
outlet, and sewer piping, such as is used by different 
individuals for road crossings, for the bottom or lower 
sluice-way. The joints of this piping should be cemented 
at every joint, as far as it reaches through the dam. 
On the inside of this pipe we put an elbow and add 
joint to joint until the height we desire the water in 
the pond is reached, then put a screen on top to 
prevent the fish from going through. This sewer piping 
I think 'the best for the lower sluice-way, as it will 
answer for the overflow, as well as it is handy when 
the cultLirist wishes to draw the water from his pond. 
as he can take ofl" one joint at a time, and by degrees 
draw off the water. Where the culturist has but a 
small amount of water to contend with in his pond, 
this lower sluice-way would, in all probability, be 
sufficient to answer the overflow and outlet at the same 
time. 

As I have described my first pond, for the purpose of 
giving the beginner some idea how to pursue in building 
ponds, I will now proceed with my second pond. 

This second pond I built is in every way like the first, 
and just along and across the upper margin of the 
water in the lower or first pond. I have thus a series 
of ponds, four in number, on the northeast end of the 
valley heretofore described. These ponds are so 
arranged as to let the water from one into the other. 



24 HISTORY OF THE CARP, ANf) 



It must be remembered that I took only enough earth 
«)ut of the inside of the ponds to form the collector. 
This collector is two feet deep and forty to sixty (eet 
wide and the length of the dam; this collector is also 
two feet dee])er than the lower sluice-way. 

It will readily be seen that when the water is drawn 
from the ponds that the fish will all collect near the 
dam in shallow water, where they can be readily taken 
out with nets or seins. 

The bottom of these ponds had been an old pasture 
field for a number of years, and were left as they were, 
in sod, except the earth I took out to form the collector. 
As this sod and vegetation produced a great many 
worms and insects for the Carp, I found it a good 
plan to leave it untouched. 

There is also an outer collector. This should be 
two feet deeper than the surrounding ground and made 
around the lower sluice. The earth that is taken from 
this collector should be placed around so as to form 
a levy to hold the water and permit it to ])ass through 
a wire screen. This collector need not be more than 
ten to fifteen feet across, and this keeps back all the fish 
that by chance may get through the sluice-way. 

The Carp culturist should bear in mind when he 
builds a i)ond not to have too much deep water in his 
pond, not more than enough for the fish to hybernate in 
during winter, and rest in during warm days in summer. 
Eight or ten feet is deep enough, and this should be 
near the lower sluice and collector, the rest of the pond 
should be from three feet in depth to a few inches. 
The culturist will find the shallow ponds will warm up 



CARP CULTURIST's GUIDE. 25 

earlier in the spring and will be found to breed more 
worms, larvae and insects, and vegetation will grow 
more abundantly, and thereby produce more food for 
the Carp. 

In building the dam care must be taken to examine 
the nature of the soil closely, and if found too porous or 
danger of water oozing through, then there must be an 
excavation made deep enough to reach a solid and 
firm subsoil, and about four feet wide, and the full 
length of the intended dam. This excavation is then 
filled with a layer of clay and well tamped down, and 
then another layer, and so on until the desired height 
of the dam is reached. The sides of this tamped down 
clay may be filled with the soil near at hand. Care 
must be taken to build the dam with good water-proof 
material, that will withstand the pressure of the water 
and keep it from oozing out. It is also important that 
the culturist take no risk in so constructing his dam 
as to wash out and take chances of loosing his fish. 

If the pond is to be fed by springs, the water should 
be conducted a short distance in a shallow ditch that 
it may become warmed and receive nourishing compon- 
ents from the air as well as the earth. And if no other 
water enters the pond, then the lower sluice-way I have 
described above, will be sufficient for all surplus water, 
and no outlet for the overflow needed. If the pond is 
fed by a brook the brook should never be permitted 
to flow into the pond direct, but should be led by a 
ditch around the pond, and the water from the brook 
pass through an inlet. This inlet must be well constructed 
of good material, to prevent its overflow, and should 



26 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 



be protected with grating to keep foreign fish from 
getting into the pond. This inlet should also be 
arranged so that the water can be regulated that flows 
into the pond. 

It is highly necessary to have the water in the pond 
on the same level summer and winter, if possible. It is 
very beneficial to the fish for the water will keep a more 
even temperature. 

It is an indispensible condition for Carp ponds, 
according to rules, that they be constructed so as to 
allow them to be thoroughly drained, so that the fish 
may be taken out without any difficulty, and their 
enemies destroyed. In Europe, ponds of from ten 
to one hundred or two hundred acres, which are 
frequently to be found, after having been used for Carp 
culture a few years, are then dried up, and oats, wheat 
or some other cereal crop is cultivated on the ground. 
And some culturists sow some kind of root crop, turnips 
or beets for the last crop, and when they become 
matured they restock the pond with water and Carp, 
and leave the roots; this cultivation improves the soil 
and benefits Carp culture as well as agriculture. When 
this is done in Europe we can expect to do the same 
in this country. In Europe we find Carp culture and 
agriculture go hand in hand. 

As I have been describing the mode of constructing 
ponds of large size, that of several acres, I will now 
proceed to describe how to build small ponds containing 
only from a few rods to one acre. 

As I have already said in this work, the Carp is 
partial to still water, or that which has not too swift 



CARP CULTURISt's GUIDE. 27 

a current, and will live where almost no other fish 
could live. If you have no living spring, brook or 
stream to receive a supply of water from, you may have 
a low vale which might be dammed up, and sufficient 
rain water collected for the purpose of supplying a pond. 
Or the culturist might get a supply from a well, where the 
water could be raised by wind or hydraulic power, for 
when once the pond is full of water and no absorbing 
or oozing out takes place, then the supply of water 
would not need be great. If a small pond is being 
built where the bottom is sandy and too much absorbtion 
takes place, it should be cemented; a few barrels of 
hydraulic cement would do for a small pond, and after 
the bottom is cemented there should be a few loads of 
clay placed in the bottom, as it is very important to 
have the clay for the health of the fish. These small 
ponds must have every feature in their construction as 
the larger ponds; that is the outlets and collectors, the 
inflow and outflow to be under control the same as I 
described for large ponds. And if well water be used 
it should stand in reservoirs or tanks until it becomes 
warm and ariated before it is permitted to enter the 
pond. 

Small ponds that have no constant flow of water 
through the inlet and outlet, through the winter, when 
ice forms over the pond, and where there is no 
circulation of water through the pond the fish will die 
from want of oxygen. This can be supplied in the 
following manner: A small pond containing one-half 
acre or less, take as soon as ice forms on the pond a 
pole and sharpen one end, then cut a hole through the 



28 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 

ice, over the deepest part of the pond, then drive the 
pole down so that it will stand firmly; fasten around 
this pole a sheave of rye straw, or corn fodder will do; 
be sure to have the lower end of the sheave below the 
formation of ice, and the upper end to be above the 
level of the ice, and let your ice freeze ever so hard, 
your fish will come out all right. I should here say the 
larger the sheave of straw or fodder the better; this 
gives free circulation of oxygen from the outer air to 
the water below the ice. If the pond contains more 
than one-half an acre then two or more poles should be 
so arranged. 




CARP CULTURlSrS GUIDE. 29 



STOCKING PONDS AND CARE OF FISH. 

To make Carp culture successful, the culturist should 
possess several ponds, according to various purposes 
they are to be used; first, the hatching pond, which we 
may call the smallest, and in which we place a number 
of males and females, usually two or sometimes three 
males to two females, but I usually find one of each 
about the best. To stock a pond of one acre in water 
area some culturists place from five to eight pair of 
milters and spawners to the acre, and where the female 
drops the eggs during the spawning season on some 
aquatic plants, where they are impregnated by the 
milters. Now if the season is favorable, and not too 
many enemies of the eggs and fry in the pond, the 
culturist can reasonably expect to have about thirty 
thousand young Carp from one pair of spawners. The 
culturist can therefore expect two hundred and forty 
thousand young from eight pair of spawners and milters 
to one acre of pond. Now if the water in the pond 
is rich in natural food the young fish will then develop 
very rapidly; if the water is not rich in food, then 
artificial feeding must be resorted to. I find middlings, 
shorts, or fine corn meal excellent food for the young 
fry. Feeding, however, should be carefully done, for 
if there is too much food given them, more than they 
will eat up clean, and the pond be small then the 



3d HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 



surplus food would decompose and cause poisonous 
gasses to arise and injure or kill the young fish. I 
usually place a shallow trough a few inches under water, 
along a walk way of plank, and place the food in the 
trough, and by so doing I can regulate the amount of 
food. It is a good rule to feed the spawners during 
the hatching season and thereby prevent them from 
eating their own eggs, as they sometimes do when 
driven by hunger. Some culturists move the spawner 
from the hatching ponds during the hatching season, 
and thereby save more young fish, than by leaving 
them in the pond. If too many young fish are kept in 
the pond, they must be well fed and cared for; if they 
are neglected and permitted to shift for themselves, 
they will not grow much, and when the young Carp 
is starved and becomes stunted it never will amount 
to much, and will not be larger at two years old than 
it should be at one. The culturist had better sacrifice 
and let a number of his young fish out in some open 
water, river or lake than to have too many in his pond. 
New beginners are very apt to keep too many young 
fish in their ponds and think it too great a sacrifice to 
let so many young fish go, but later on they regret 
their parsimony, by having a weak and not a well 
developed fish. 

If the culturist has a series of ponds he will want to 
take the young Carp out of his hatching pond, and 
place them in his breeding pond, or if he wants some 
of them ready to sell to other culturists for stocking 
ponds, he may place them in small basins or tanks, 
built for this purpose, about twenty by thirty or forty 



v:arp culturist s guide. 31 

feet, where he can take them out any time during the 
fall, winter or spring, I think the autumn the best for 
transfering the Carp, and as early as they can be safely 
moved. About October in this latitude is a suitable 
time. They will then have plenty of time to become 
reconciled in their new quarters and be ready to find 
their winter retreat when cold weather should set in. 

The number of young fish should not exceed three 
thousand in number, per acre, for the first year in the 
breeding pond, and if the pond be poor in natural food, 
then less than the above number would be better. If 
these fish are fed and properly cared for, they will by 
the following autumn, weigh from one and a half to two 
pounds,' and from fifteen to eighteen months old, and 
only of eight or ten months growth, for it must be 
remembered that they grow only during the months of 
May, June, July, August and a part of September and 
do not grow any during the latter part of fall and 
"winter. They will only grow and thrive in warm 
weather, and gain more in weight in the months of June, 
July and August than the rest of the whole year. 

After the Carp has been kept in the breeding pond 
one summer, and has attained the weight of one and 
a half to two pounds, it is then transferred to the regular 
Carp pond or finishing pond. This pond should receive 
no more than from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred 
of the one and a half to two pound Carp per acre. If 
the pond is very productive of food, the Carp will gain 
and weigh from four to five pounds by fall,, without 
feeding, and by feeding carefully they frequently weigh 
six to eight pounds, and are then ready to be taken 



^2 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 



out of the pond and ready for market. 

Taking the Carp from this pond is indeed an 
interesting and beautiful sight and is well worth to go 
miles to see. If the pond is built as I have heretofore 
described, with lower sluice-way, collectors and where 
the water can be drawn off by degrees, the fish will all 
collect near the sluice-way in the collector and huddle 
together like flocks of sheep, and with their backs 
protruding out of the water. They are taken then 
with a sein or net and weighed out in lots of one 
hundred or more and sent to market direct, or placed 
in the so called merchantable ponds and are ready to 
be taken out to supply the demand. These merchantable 
ponds are small and generally built about some springs 
where the water keeps cool in summer and does not 
freeze very much in winter and only large enough to 
hold about one thousand Carp each. 

The culturist should at all times know the number 
of fish in his breeding and stock ponds, so that he may 
know how much to feed them if food is needed. 

When the fishing out takes place from the hatching 
pond, the water should be drawn off very slowly, and 
the young fish gently driven in as the water recedes, 
and care must be taken not to alarm the young fish, 
for if they become alarmed they will bury themselves in 
the mud and thus die before water can again be let into 
the pond. Numbers of Carp thus perish before the 
culturist becomes aware of it. After the water is drawn 
off and the fish collect near the lower sluice-way, they 
can be taken out with a small sein and placed in tubs, 
and with a small landing net dip out, a few at a time, 



CARP CULTURIST's GUIDE. 35 



and can easily be counted into buckets, and transferred 
to the breeding ponds. The spawners are usually- 
placed back in the hatching pond and left over, and to 
be ready for the following spring's hatching. If the 
ponds are arranged as I have described, the culturist has 
no need of counting the fish he takes from the breeding 
pond to the regular stock pond, as he can by drawing 
the water from the breeding pond let fish and water 
through; at the same time he has them already 
counted. However, he should add a few extra fish for 
losses that may have occurred by the enemies of the 
Carp. 

The hatching pond should be made shallow, only 
enough of deep water in the collector for the spawners 
to winter in. The rest of the pond should be made 
shallow, and not more than two feet deep, and two to 
five inches around the outside and low water margin; 
this shallow water should cover the largest part of the 
pond. Different water plants should be encouraged to 
grow, such' as festucies, or water grass, the white and 
yellow water-lily, and tuscarora rice, or water oats. 
These different plants seem to be preferred for the 
spawners to deposit the eggs on, and the seeds of 
these plants are excellent food for fish. If the hatching 
pond is not well supplied with these plants, then the 
culturist should place numbers of brush (hemlock 
brush are best when they can be had) in the 
pond where the spawners can deposit their eggs, 
for all eggs not attached to some floating substance 
are invariably lost; eggs that fall on the bottom will 
not hatch. For an experiment I constructed a small 



34 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 

pond in the spring of 1885, of about ten rods 
square, and deep enough to cover cedar boughs. I 
placed these boughs in the hatching pond and when 
well covered with eggs, I transferred them to the small 
pond to hatch. By carefully removing the eggs from 
these boughs and wrapped in damp moss, they could 
be shipped any distance that would not keep them 
out of water over forty-eight hours, and when placed 
again in water would hatch as well as if they had been 
placed there by the mother fish. The experimental 
pond gave ample opportunities to watch the process 
of hatching or development of the eggs until hatched. 
On the fifteenth day of May I found on a certain bough, 
that I watched from day to day, fifty or more eggs; this 
bough I transferred to my experimental pond, so that I 
could examine it at pleasure. I found no apparent 
change until the fourth day after the transfer; this was 
a coloring of a dusky hue. The next day, the twentieth 
of May, I could see a dark spot, the eyes, and from day 
to day I could watch the transformation that took 
place until the twenty-eighth, when I found the covering 
of most of them empty. I took ten of those that were 
not yet hatched, and put them in a small basin of water 
that I dipped out of the pond, and by the next day 
I found four of the ten eggs hatched. These four little 
fish I watched from day to day until the fifth day 
after they left their covering, when they had exhausted 
the yolk that was attached in a tiny bag to them, and 
the perfect little fish was found ready to seek for food, 
and were then set free in the pond. 



CARP CULTURIST S GUIDE. 35 



TAKING THE FISH FROM THE POND. 



Taking the fish from the pond should be carefully 
done. The water must be drawn off slowly, requiring 
sometimes several days, and some very large ponds 
would require a longer time. The fish must be driven 
in slowly and carefully from the outer margin of the 
pond and driven toward the collector near the lower 
sluice-way. The fish must not be alarmed by unusual 
noise, or they will bury themselves in the mud and 
remain there while the water recedes, and thus perish. 

Thousands are sometimes lost in this manner, unless 
there is an abundance of water near at hand, to fill up 
the pond with, and cover the fish. 

There is no more beautiful sight in nature than to see 
a large pond that contains thousands of the beautiful 
Carp weighing from four to six pounds collected together 
in a small space and in shallow water where they are 
huddled together as close as a flock of sheep and their 
backs protruding from the water. 

Alter the fish are thus collected the fishing out takes 
place, usually early next morning, and weighed in lots 
of one hundred and sent to market or placed in the 
marketable ponds; these ponds are small, built purposely 
to keep the matured fish in waiting for the markets. If 
these ponds could be built close to a spring where the 
water would be of an even temperature of about fifty or 



36 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 

sixty degrees, and the Carp placed in them early in the 
season, their flesh would remain solid during the summer 
and be in good condition, for the flesh of the Carp, like 
all other fish, becomes soft during the spawning season, 
and remains so during warm weather in summer. The 
Carp kept in a cold pond in hot weather would sell for 
more in market, and thus increase the profit to the 
culturist. 

I have spoken thus far of Carp culture where it is 
conducted in a series of ponds, that is hatching, breeding 
and stock, or finishing ponds, but there is another mode, 
where the culturist wishes to cultivate in a single pond, 
and mix Carp culture; where fish of all ages, from the 
young, just hatched, to one or more years old. This 
method, however, is not so convenient and profitable as 
the class pond culture. The single pond must contain 
all the characteristics of the class pond; must have 
shallow places, and these well overgrown with aquatic 
plants for the spawner and young fish, and .also places 
from six to eight feet deep for the large fish. This pond 
should be so arranged that the last drop of water can be 
drawn off", so that the culturist can get at his fish, and 
enable him to destroy the enemies of the Carp. There 
should be shallow places made at the sides of the pond, 
and overgrown with vegetation for the spawners to deposit 
their eggs. If the so-called spawning beds could be so 
arranged as to permit the culturist to enclose them 
with a net-work during the spawning season until the 
young fish would be able to take care of themselves, he 
would save many more fish. Again the culturist should 
not have more than one variety of the Carp in his pond. 



CARP CULTURISt's GUIDK. 37 

If he does he will have crosses between the varieties he 
has in his pond and in a few years he will have neither 
pure. Scale, Mirror, or Leather Carp, and none of these 
crosses are as pretty as the genuine. However, it does 
not seem to injure the eating quality or flavor of the fish 
by crossing. 




3^ HJ.STOKV OF THK CAKP, AN» 



THE BEST FOOD FOR THE CARP. 



The appetite of the Carp as has already been said in 
this work, is easily satisfied, as it will eat largely of aquatic 
]jlants, seeds, worms, larvae and insects, as well as any 
of our cereal grain, such as barley, wheat, buckwheat, 
oats, corn, etc. These grains should be cooked or put 
to soak until soft, or ground fine, for as I have already 
stated, the Carp has no teeth for masticating solid grain. 
The Carp will eat any of our vegetables, such as lettuce^ 
potatoes, cabbage, turnips, pumpkins, etc. They will 
not refuse the offals from slaughter houses, or even the 
excrements of cattle, sheep or swine. 

As the Carp is not a game fish it will not attack or 
eat any other fish, and will not bite at a common fish 
hook baited with any kind of meats, as is the case with 
our native fish, unless the Carp is nearly starved; yet it 
can readily be taken with a small hook baited with dough. 



CARP CUI.TURIST S GUII>E. 39 



MODE OF FEEDING THE CARP. 

Feeding should only be resorted to when the pond is 
very poor in natural food, or overstocked with fish. 
When the bottom of the pond is sandy and rocky it 
would produce but few aquatic plants and also insect 
life, on which the Carp largely depends; in such ponds 
then feeding should be resorted to. I will now give my 
plan for feeding and which I find both convenient and 
pleasant for a feeding place. 

I make a walkway by driving down posts in the pond 
six feet apart, in a straight line and as far as I want my 
walk. I drive two such posts side by side, two feet apart 
in rows, and across these posts I nail one and one-half 
by three inch strips, and lay one inch plank along tht' 
the top of these strips and posts. Then my walk is 
done. Some of the strips I i.ail across the post I leave 
two feet longer than the width of my walk, for the 
purpose of fastening the trough, which I make in the 
following manner: I take eighteen inch wide plank and 
nail to each side four inch strips to form a shalhnv 
trough, I then nail four upright pieces one by two inches, 
two at each end, then I sink the trough about six inches 
under the water and nail the upright pieces fast to tlie 
strips across the posts of the walk-way. This I find 
convenient and gives me the pleasure of seeing them eat, 
and when they have enough food. It gives the culturist 



40 HIS'IORV OF THE CARP, AND 



i^Tcat pleasure to have the Carp to come and eat out of 
these troughs. They look like so many well fed and fat 
])igs. They will also soon learn to eat out of one's hands 
and permit themselves to be taken out of the water. 
The Carjj can be trained to come for their food at call. 
I have my fish come to their food by sounding a tin 
horn. Thousands of them come when the horn is 
sounded, and so eager are they for their food that they 
])ush each other out of the water. 

Where the culturist has a small pond from one-fourth 
to one-half acre near the house, he can keep his fish 
with the offals from his kitchen and barn. 




CARP CULTURIST'S GUIDE. 41 



CAN FISH HEAR? 



If science was not teaching that fish have no ears or 
sense of hearing I would say they do hear, for whenever 
the fish in my pond hear the familiar sound of a horn they 
will come to it; now whether the sound of the horn or the 
vibration over the water brings them up, is yet an 
unsettled question in my mind. I know this fact, that 
the Carp can be learned to come by call, the same as 
the domestic animals on the farm. This calling and 
feeding the Carp is a great source of pleasure to our 
young folks on the farm, and they pass many happy 
hours in thus being engaged. 



42 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 



■ ENEMIES OF THE CARP. 

The enemies of the Carp are legion, so many at times 
that the Carp is exterminated from the pond. Frogs, 
snakes, turtles, rats, mink and otter, and all of our native 
fish are enemies and feed on the Carp and its eggs. All 
aquatic birds and water fowls, such as the kingfisher, fish- 
hawk, cranes, bittern, heron and wild ducks, all of which 
understand catching fish better than the average culturist. 

The trap, gun, hook and net must be used constantly 
in large fisheries, to keep the upper hand of these enemies. 
Where the establishment is small, containing only a few 
acres it can be enclosed with a tight board fence about 
three feet high and boarded up and down; the ends 
of the boards should be let in the ground six or eight 
inches, to prevent mink, rats, etc., from digging under. 
This will not, however, keep birds out; they must be shot, 
or many must be trapped witli a common steel traj), 
such as trappers use for small fur animals. I put my 
stakes six feet high close to the water in the pond, and 
set my traps on them, without any bait. The kingfisher, 
fish-hawk, etc., can easily be taken; ducks and other 
birds must be shot. The snapping turtle, the most 
voracious enemy of the Carp, can be taken with a stout 
hook baited with fresh meats; indeed the culturist should 
have hooks constantly set for turtles from early spring 
until late in autumn. 



CARP CULTURIST'S GUIDE. 



43 



TABLE QUALITY OF THE CARP. 



If we take under consideration the extent of Carp 
culture in Europe where thousands of acres of artificial 
ponds are to be found, and thousands of tons of fish 
taken from them annually, and placed upon the markets 
of the principal cities, such as Paris, Berlin or Vienna, 
and in spite of these markets being well supplied with 
salt and fresh water fish, with the Carp selling from 
two to three times more in price than any other fish, 
except the Trout or Salmon, and that there is no fish 
in Europe that is superior to the Carp and very few their 
equal, these facts will then give every encouragement to 
Carp culture in the United States, and if the culturists 
will give the same attention in cultivating the Carp that 
the culturists do in Europe, then the American public 
will want no better fish. 

The United States Fish Commission, after inquiri^ig 
as to the eating quality of the Carp from two hundred 
and forty-three applicants and culturists received the 
following report: Nineteen criticized as to softness or 
muddy taste; seventeen reported uncomplimentary; aside 
from softness and muddy taste, there were two hundred 
and six highly complimentary reports, and only thirty- 
six uncomplimentary reports. These last thirty-six 
can easily be explained; some by cooking, others by 
eating the fish during the spawning season, and again 



44 HISTORY OF THE CARP, AND 

Others in being bred in a muddy and filthy pond. 

Wherever my Carp have been used for the table they 
have given universal satisfaction, and all of my patrons 
have given them their highest praise as to the edible 
quality of my Carp. I think when Carp culture is 
better understood among the American people, then 
every farmer will have his Carp pond, and however 
remote from market he will be enabled to supply his table 
with the best of fresh fish. I think the time will come 
when Carp ponds will be as abundant among our 
agriculturists as the pig pen or poultry yard. 




CARP CULTURIST S GUIDK. 45 



OBJECTIONS TO CARP, 



We find now and then objections made by some one 
who undoubtedly is unacquainted with the true history 
of the Carp, and denounce them as being a bon\ fi-;h 
and not fit to eat; some say they taste muddy, etc. 
The genuine Carp has no such objections in Euro])e. 
If they are genuine and pure bred it shouhl be Iree 
from tie or bunch bones, which are so objectionable to 
the Sutker family of fish. The Carp has no more bones 
than the common river Bass, that is the ribs, back bone 
and fin bones, and if any individual seeks for a fisli 
with less bones than the Carp contains, he will be 
disappointed. 

If the epicure finds more bones in the Carp than I 
have described above, then the Carp must be crossed 
with some of our native fish and not a pure Carp. Some 
object to them on account of their softness and muddy 
flavor and taste. To such I will say that they ha\e 
eaten the fish during the season that no fish is very 
good. No fish should be used during the spawning 
season, as their flesh will be found soft, and not so good 
as at the rest of the season; that is the latter part of 
summer, fall and winter. The muddy and mouldy taste 
of the Carp is derived from a stagnated and foul pond 
of water, and fed with foul and decomposed food. I am 
sorry to say that there are some culturists met with, who 



46 HISTORY OF IHE CARP, AND 

cultivate the ('ar|) in nothing better than a cesspool, 
and (ced them with the most unhealthy food that they 
can find, such as the manure from their stables and 
other decayed garbage they find around their premises. 
Some culturists close to some large towns haul manure 
tVom the town stables in their Carj) ponds for food for 
their fish. No wonder then that with the above treatment 
the C^arj) receives that there are some objections. The 
rulturist will find no such objection as the above where 
the Carp has been bred in a pond of pure water, and 
receives sound and healthy food. If we make the 
inquiry of the Frenchman or (jerman, who is acquainted 
with the true Carp of his Fatherland, and ask him about 
the eating quality of the Carp, his answer will be there 
is no fish their superior and but few their equal. We 
also find in China and Japan, the native land and origin 
of the Carp, the Carp always preferred to any other fish. 
When General Grant made his tour around the world, 
and was feasted by the crowned heads of China and 
jaj)an, the Carp was always found at the head of the 
bill of fare. 

If the Car]) culturist will take the same pains with 
his fish and ponds that the culturist takes in Europe, he 
will then make it a paying industry, and always find 
a ready market for his fish and a profitable employment. 



CARP CULTURIST'S GUIDE, 47 



DOES CARP CULTURE PAY? 

The first question asked by the American i)euple 
^vhen any new enterprise springs up, is, will it pay? 
i can only answer the above inquiry by my own 
experience and observation, and will say, that so far 
the few culturists engaged in the United vStates have 
met with good encouragement, financially, as nearly- 
all the Carp they propagate found a ready market 
for stocking new ponds that are being built all oser 
the country; these fish so disposed of have brcnight 
the culturist a good income, and as long as he can 
dispose of hi> surplus fish for the above purpose, he 
will make iiiore money than to raise them large enough 
for eating purposes. But let us make a little calculation 
what the culturist can expect to do raising Carp for 
the open markets alone. As I have alread}' said in 
this little work, that one acre of pond rich in natural 
food, will produce 2,500 pounds of Carp i)er annum, 
without feeding, and that these figures can be doubled 
by feeding. Then we can see whether it will pay. 
The 2,500 pounds at eight cents ])er pound, wholesale, 
would bring $200 per acre, or double that amount by 
feeding the fish. This result can only be gained b\ 
careful feeding and ever watchful over the pond and 
fish. I think 1 am right in the above figures, and do 
not wish to mislead new beginners, in gixing too 



FiisroRV or 'ihk carp, and 



flattering a statement, as is the case with some 
unprinciple i)ersons who are making new beginners 
believe more than they afterwards find to be correct, 
for the i)iiri)(^se of getting to sell them Carp at high 
figurv.^s to stock their jjonds. To all those that engage 
in Carp culture, I would advise to not expect too much 
without labor, for there is no rule or law laid down in 
the univeise where man can expect to eat bread 
without the sweat of his brow. 




CARP CULTURIST'S GUIDE. 49 



COOKING THE CARP. 



A Carp weighing three pounds and upwards is the 
proper size for cooking, as it will then be found that the 
meat will easily flake off from the bones. The scale 
Carp can be dressed like any of our native fish, by 
scraping the scales off, and then split open and fried 
in lard or butter; or they may be boiled the same as 
any other fish, or baked whole, with dressing, the same 
as a fowl. The Mirror or Leather Carp can be skinned 
like a Cat-fish, but I have a better way, as follows, by 
wrapping the fish in new ashes for a minute or two, 
then the few scales and outer skin can easily be removed; 
then the fish will make a better appearance when cooked 
than if it was skinned. Large Carp weighing ten 
pounds or more can be cut or sliced up and cooked 
according to the fancy of the owner. 



50 HISTORY OF THE CARP. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS, 

In conclusion I would encourage every farmer that 
can possibly have a Carp pond to engage in Carp 
culture as soon as possible, as there is nothing that 
would beautify the scenery of his farm, and give more 
pleasure to himselt and family than a well-stocked Carp 
pond, and then feed and caress the most beautiful of 
fish, which are as tame and gentle as any of our pets 
upon the farm. The scenery of our country homes 
would be beautified, and our sons and daughters would 
find more pleasure and attraction on the farm, for there 
is none of our domestic animals that give us more 
pleasure in petting than the Carp, and which will permit 
themselves to be taken with the hand, and will answer 
the call of any familiar voice. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Brief History of the German Carp, 3 

Building Ponds, 18 

Building my First Pond, 21 

Can Fish Hear?, 41 

Cooking the Carp, 49 

Carp Culture in Europe, 6 

Concluding Remarks, 50 

Description and Species of Carp, 4 

Does Carp Culture Pay? 47 

Enemies of the Carp, 42 

Mode of Feeding the Carp, 39 

Nature and Habit of the Carp, 9 

Objections to Carp, 45 

Stocking Ponds and Care of Fish, 29 

Table Quality of the Carp, 43 

Taking the Fish from thz Pond, 35 

The Culture of Carp and Growth, 12 

The Best Food for the Carp, ;^S 



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